BackTuesday, 11 March 2014
Don’t Forget the Fleurieu – Dignity for Disability Launches Regional SA Policy
The Fleurieu Peninsula is in urgent need of extra support for adults with disabilities and better mental health services, said Dignity for Disability when launching its regional policies today.
“Despite being only a little more than an hour out of Adelaide, the Fleurieu Peninsula is drastically lacking in these two important service areas,” said Dignity for Disability Party Leader Kelly Vincent MLC.
The Fleurieu Peninsula has some excellent services for children with disabilities, including the special unit at Victor Harbor High School – but there is virtually no help for adults with disabilities to live independently and work.
“The special unit at Victor Harbor High does a wonderful job of preparing students with disabilities for independent living and life in the workforce,” said Ms Vincent. “But, upon graduating students find themselves stuck at home with their parents, without a job or accommodation options.”
“As suggested in a recent Victor Harbor Times article, there is a role for Government to play in encouraging local businesses to hire people with disabilities through awareness campaigns or by providing incentives for disability employment organisations to operate in the Fleurieu.”
Mental Health services are similarly lacking on the Fleurieu Peninsula, with mental health teams located at Mt Barker and Victor Harbor and little outreach for those in between.
“ABC TV’s 7.30 SA recently reported an incident where a patient with depression was discharged from The South Coast District Hospital without having seen a mental health professional and after being prescribed valium despite previous attempts to end her life by overdose,” said Ms Vincent.
“This story is symptomatic of how mental health is treated in the Fleurieu – overburdened hospitals are forced to quickly deal with acute patients and long term care is left to over-stretched GPs. Instead, community mental health nurses and specialists need to be made available to patients in the smaller townships so they can receive ongoing and effective long-term care.”
Dignity for Disability’s regional policy calls for these two service areas to become a focus for the State Government in the Fleurieu, and flags the approach of the National Disability Insurance Scheme as a potential solution.
“The NDIS is an opportunity for South Australia to get regional service provision right, and to give every South Australian with a disability equal access to support,” said Ms Vincent. “However, the rollout will take five years – and that will be five years too long for some. We need to act now to secure a better future for South Australians living in regional areas.”
